Back against the wall

Hauptmann’s “Weavers” staged at Natmandal

 

Students of Theatre Department, DU in scene from “The Weavers”. Photo: Mumit M. 

Jamil Mahmud

Department of Theatre, Dhaka University has brought Nobel prize-winning German playwright Gerhart Hauptmann's (1862-1946) “The Weavers” to the stage. As part of their curriculum, the final year students of the department produced the play. The premiere was held on May 25 and everyday -- until tomorrow (May 29) -- the play is being staged in the evening. Ismail Mohammad translated the play into Bangla. Ahmedul Kabir (teacher of the Theatre Department) has directed the play.
“The Weavers” is considered Hauptmann's best dramatic work. The German playwright, who is a contemporary of Rabindranath Tagore, received Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the realm of dramatic art.
“The Weavers” is significant in the Bangladeshi context considering the plight of the local weavers. Through the play, Hauptmann presents a social class that reacts in the only way they can when they have their backs against the wall.
The play opens with a group of weavers waiting in a queue to sell their products to the trader. The trader, Dreissinger, provided them with looms and in return the weavers produced fabric. But the payment is too meagre. Many of the weavers are already indebted to Dreissinger, as they took advance payments from him. Finding no other way, they ask for a raise, but Dreissinger declines. The weavers get ready to revolt.
Jaeger, a weaver's son who recently came back after serving as a soldier, leads the revolt. Jaeger is captured by the law enforcers but eventually rescued by his comrades. Sensing imminent danger, Dreissinger flees. The weavers desecrate Dreissinger's house. They seem like wild animals, whom nothing or none can contain. The story ends on a tragic note.
In the play, Hauptmann considered the community of weavers, instead of an individual, as the protagonist. Characters appear and perform on the stage, but none of them stay long enough to establish an attachment with the audience.
Syed Muhammad Zubayer, Atiqur Rahman, Atiqul Islam, Abdul Munim Tarafdar, Ishrat Kabir, Imam Abdullah Hakim, Nasirul Islam, Bithika Yasmin, Mosharraf Hossain, Sanjida Rahman and Nasrin Islam enacted the lead roles in the play.
Syed Muhammad Zubayer was the set designer. Wahida Mallick designed the costumes.
Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University, AAMS Arefin Siddique, inaugurated the five-day programme. Among others, Professor Mizanur Rahman, treasurer, DU and Rahmat Ali, chairman of the Theatre Department, were present at the premiere.

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